Re: [IRCA] recorded the iboc

[Scott Fybush <scott@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Marty's recording sounds similar to what I hear on my local IBOC 
stations (WHAM 1180, WHTK 1280, WLGZ 990) when I listen on an AM stereo 
receiver such as my Carver TX11b tuner. It's my understanding that the 
envelope detection those tuners use, combined with their especially wide 
IF, don't phase out the IBOC sidebands the way a "normal" AM radio does.

These receivers represent a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of all the AM 
receivers out there, though, especially when you get beyond the hobby 
community. I've listened to AM stations running IBOC on a lot of other 
tuners, from car radios to my 2010 and R8B, and have heard no sign of 
the "hiss." On better radios, I can hear the bandwidth reduction that's 
a tradeoff of the IBOC conversions; on lousier ones, like the stock 
radio in my 2003 Jetta, there's no audible difference on analog. I'd bet 
that a sizable majority of listeners are using something closer to my 
crappy Jetta radio than a 2010 or R8B.

Don't get me wrong here - I think the AM IBOC system (but not the FM) is 
significantly flawed, and probably unworkable in the long run for all 
but a handful of very high-powered, clear channel stations. But I don't 
think this particular problem will be what does it in. If it were a real 
problem for anyone but a small group of hobbyists using 20 year old 
radios, stations would take it much more seriously. The fact that they 
don't should tell you something.

s



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